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UAE Switches on Carbon Capture Plant

According to The National, an English-language newspaper in the United Arab Emirates, the Al Reyadah project collects carbon dioxide emissions from the Emirates Steel Industries mills in Abu Dhabi, compresses the gas and pipes it to oilfields about 43 kilometers away. There, it is injected into oil wells as a means to force more oil out.  

"This project has been under study for a very long time and now it is a reality," Suhail Al Mazrouei, the UAE’s energy minister, told the newspaper.

"When it is fully operational it will remove CO2 equivalent to taking more than 170,000 cars off the roads," he said, adding that project also will help to boost the country’s oil and gas output.

The Global CCS Institute, an Australian organization made up of researchers, governments and corporations promoting carbon capture and storage technologies, said the project’s launch is a step toward meeting global climate targets. It also further demonstrates that carbon capture and storage technology is a viable way to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, the institute said.

“CCS is the only technology capable of achieving deep cuts in emissions from necessary industrial production processes such as iron and steel, cement, fertilizers, and natural gas processing so the opening of Al Reyadah is a major achievement in reducing emissions for this industry,” Global CCS Institute chief executive Brad Page said in a statement.